Wasps detect drugs more rapidly than dogs

Dutch scientists train wasps to detect drugs and explosives. Biologists at the Institute for Environmental Studies in the city of Maarsen say they have found a method of using the insects to detect drugs and bombs. Wasps act more reliably and efficiently than specially trained dogs, News.Battery.Ru cites the scientists as saying.

Another plus is that wasps take much less time to be trained: dogs need to be trained for half a year at the minimum, while training a wasp takes less than an hour.

Wasps have already undergone laboratory tests, and they succeeded in detecting the needed substance using their antennae. Those antennae, according to the scientists, are more sensitive to certain substances than the dog’s nose. Besides, wasps have proved to be diligent pupils.

The only setback here is the wasps’ short lifespan, being as little and 2 months. Yet, this can be offset by their training speed. The lack of individuality is also considered a minus, contrasting with our four-legged friends.